


Tea Time

by DrMcNastyPhD



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Flashbacks, Tea, Tea Parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26705560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrMcNastyPhD/pseuds/DrMcNastyPhD
Summary: Tea time is a time for the old folks to reflect. For Grari, the old mercenary dwarf, he reflects on his life with his adoptive daughter Diana. For Vevrani, the ex assassins turned housewife turned widow reflects on the lives of her 2 boys Aifur and Gott. They reflect on their separate families together over tea a few times a week, but will the families remain separate for long?





	1. Part 1- Grari

**Author's Note:**

> much like my other stories, I'm always open to feedback and criticism.

Grari sipped his tea while he “inspected” Diana’s “morning training.” Honestly since she technically wasn't under his command anymore he had no power over her but he knew if he ordered her to stop fooling around with the local children and do drills she would, albeit with lots of sass. Which would earn her more drills and then more sass and the cycle would begin anew. 

She would listen because he was the closest thing she had to a “father.” Whatever that meant. He was never meant to be a father, as she was never meant to live the life she had. 

Those who knew him would never say it to his face, but he had grown softer. Not “soft” just softer. From a diamond to titanium, slightly more malleable. He was elected leader of the Rosenritter for his bravery, service, seniority, and tactical skill when the old leader died, those many decades ago. He made sure to uphold the order of the band, and resolve any problems within, mostly with extreme violence. (nothing brings old enemies together like a common, greater enemy.) He was responsible for the lives of all of his closest friends. His “family” if you can call it that. He never understood that comparison. He would be sad if his mother or brother died (as if he would know, hadn't seen them in near a century) but his brothers in arms? He would trade his life for theirs in a heartbeat. And he felt the same way for Diana. 

The company has had kids around before, though usually not for long. It's common and no bad blood was created if someone chose to leave the life. Compared to some companies who assume “once you join you are in for life,” his’ runs through members like water through a barrier of air. It makes sense. People grow old, they grow tired, have their fill of killing and destroying and want to try their hand at creating. The story usually goes that one of the shieldmaidens gets intimate with another member of the troupe. (not exactly private in a camp made of tents) Eventually she gets pregnant and they run off together leaving the life of war behind. Some variations include a shieldmaiden falling for some poor farmer, a merc willing to throw it all away for some barmaid, and not uncommon the woman carries the baby to term and cares for it the first few months in the camp as the man works through the pregnancy to earn a bit of money for a plot of land. (Grari would never admit it but everyone knows those ones always got a slightly larger share of the loot.) 

Given these usual scenarios, imagine the surprise of his blood brothers and sisters when Grari the machine of war, Grari the ender of worlds, The 4 foot terror, the winner of wars and ender of empires came back from a routine patrol covered in blood and with a child. He guarded that child like a mother bear and her cub. For the first few days he didn't let anyone even near her. And like a bear cub to its mom, when she regained some semblance of autonomy she stuck to his side like glue. 

“That's not fair Diana! You’re cheating. You’re taller than us!”-cried Gott

“Its not my fault you are so short, just be taller stupid” - laughed diana.

Seems she challenged the kids to an apple picking contest on a tree where she could easily jump to reach the ripe fruit while they had to climb it. 

There’s that sass again. As frustrating as it may be it's how he knows she’s ok. It took 3 months of her clinging to him before she spoke her first word. The entire time she was with him, watching, learning. When the day she finally spoke he was already agitated and trying to get her to eat something, probably a rare steak. And this child who hadn't said a word replied with a phrase that many of the shieldmaidens (gods know they are not great female role models) and other mercs said to each other.

“B….bl-blow it o-out your ass”

Under any other circumstances he would have throttled whoever said that to him, gotta keep the pecking order in top shape and all, but the realization that this tiny …..6? Yeah around that, 6 year old said that to him, of all people, after months of not saying a word ever. AND THOSE ARE HER FIRST WORDS? He broke out in painful howls of laughter that could have been misconstrued as pain and in fact were given by how within the seconds there were 5 soldiers in the tent and 30 more surrounding it, weapons at the ready. He then explained to them the situation once he could breath and somehow coaxed her to repeat it causing the entire company to have a good laugh. Naturally, because she was a child getting praised, she kept saying it and each repetition was said with more confidence and inspired even greater laughter from the adults. Then after a few minutes she felt like they were laughing at her, which caused her to release one final “BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS” and storm out of the group of the large circle of adults surrounding her. 

“Two miracles in one night, first she speaks and now she is separated from her guardian spirit.” - merc 1

“Let's go for three, Hey Hilda you wanna-”  _ gets punched  _ \- merc 2

A hand fell upon Grari’s shoulder and he looks up to see a shieldmaiden barely controlling her laughter. “She’ll be fine. She's just at that difficult age-” and she bursts into laughter not even able to finish her joke.

Years passed and Grari trained her as best he could. There were the occasional complaints that he shouldn't be pushing a child so hard but he ignored them. Others joked and called it “a father’s tough love” but he considered himself more of her quartermaster than a father. At least he tried to keep telling himself that. She was the first person to be raised in a mercenary camp, and in a mercenary camp if you can't fight you don't belong. Not that he meant to send a child of 13 to war, but whenever he looks at her some part of him remembers how he found her those years ago and he vowed to make sure that she wouldn't have to go through anything like that again. That she would be able to protect herself and those she loved.

The thought of love brings Grari back to the present, not 20 feet away from Diana and her antics with Gott and some kids, to Hervul. He was currently chasing Aifur and another group of kids. With his build and power he could easily catch them but he purposely slowed himself to prolong the fun. When he caught one he would raise them and swing them around for a bit then it was on to the next. 

Noticing his staring at the young man, his tea companion and the mother of Aifur and Gott, Vevrani pitches in “It's not her fault, he’s great with kids. Stirs up her maternal instinct” 

The woman was a frequent companion of his as their kids grew attached when Diana was assigned to protect her from the revenant. They would often sit together and watch their respective “children” (or as Grari referred to Diana, his “responsibility”)play together. Over the past couple of months Diana became like an older sister to Gott and very obviously a boyhood crush to Aifur. Hervul became both an older brother as well as their male role model. Grari had grown fond of her company, their polite chats a welcome distraction from both of their lives, he a mercenary and her being an assassin turned single mother of 2. He would miss these chats when he had to move on.

And the thought of moving on brings him right back to Hervul. As a mercenary he can say that the boy is one of the best he’s seen in a while. In his short few months of training he's become a force to be reckoned with. He’s a tad bit blunt with his approaches and tends to lose his head in battle but what he lacks in technique he makes up for in raw strength. And it's this respect for a fellow warrior that makes Grari dislike him more. 

Grari thought this security mission would be her out. A way for Diana to escape the mercenary life. She’s a girl of 18 and has her entire life ahead of her, it shouldn't be wasted with him and his ragtag group of bastards and whoresons. Vevrani is very fond of Diana, being the mother of 2 rambunctious boys Diana was hailed as the daughter she never had. It was perfect, she had found a family. Real family, not some old, dwarf who spent his life chasing skirts and wars. Then he showed up. 

At first it wasn't a problem, they were both assigned to defend Vevrani and her kids. It seemed natural Hervul would be shacked up with Vevrani since they were both involved in the incident that created the revenant. He and Diana were meant to be the last line of defense between her and the revenant. Keep the children on the backline and solve the issue in the front. But that bastard Powadachi had to go die. Now his unofficial “apprentice” is up in arms about “taking the war to them” and “killing them all.” Children. Getting angry at every death in a war would only result in your blood pressure being the end of you. As you experience war you learn that you only really need to kill a few to make the other side concede but that's besides the point. He is all riled up for this war and because she had to go and catch feelings for the first boy she met her age now she has to go with him. 

Still denying that he has any familial bond with Diana despite raising her, Grari takes another sip of his Tea and continues to stare at Hervul, feeling the age-old feeling a father is obligated to feel when their daughters fall in love. All his work, all his plans to get her out of the war business, to get her into a better, safer life. All ruined, because of some gods-damned boy.

  
  



	2. part 2- Vevrani

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vevrani's side of the story.

**_Around 1 year after part 1_ **

Vevrani sipped her tea from her chair in the shade overlooking the courtyard. Her usual companion in this activity was absent for this particular session. Well, not completely absent, just preoccupied. Grairi, her current partner and adoptive father of Diana, was helping said daughter round up the local children for their daily training session. 

Zaark had started training the kids in self defence and minus a few mistakes the kids took to it very well, in his absence Diana, Griari, Hervul (when he had time), and Audrie (the elven monk from Zaark’s monastery) kept up the newfound tradition. 

Vevrani noticed that as usual, despite all his bitching and moaning, Aifur was once again the first one lined up exactly to Dians’s directions. She chuckles to herself.  _ Poor kid. It's nice to have your first crush but it's also the most bittersweet when you find out it can never be. _ The other kids got in line with varying degrees of difficulty. Most lined up after a bit of prodding and yelling and a few had to physically be chased down and carried to the group by Diana herself. Training consists of light to heavy exercises depending on the age, then splitting off into groups to practice technique. 

Vevrani notices her oldest sneaking glances at her every time he could,as he did during every training session. He wanted to make sure she held up her end of the bargain. Ever since his father died and he learned what his mother did on the side he wanted to “join the family business.” She tried her best to deter him from taking up the blade, be it by punishing him and taking his knives but he’s proven to be stubborn beyond belief. Got some stupid idea of needing to be able to protect the family now that he was “the man of the house.” The boy is barely fifteen. 

It was Grari’s idea to teach him. Figured it would be better for him to be taught correctly than for him to go out on his own and get killed.  _ Despite all his protests he makes a pretty good father figure. _ The deal was that Aifur was forbidden from practicing knife techniques unless supervised by his mother or the dwarf. Often they did it together since being an assassin and a merc leads to having different views on how knife wielding should occur. This leads to bickering that to the untrained eye could be an argument but it really was some advanced form of flirting between two killers. 

Grari was great with the boys. When he decided to take a more active role in their lives he came in like a raging storm. By the end of the first day they may not have liked him but they sure as hell respected him.  _ Hervul is a good short term role model but the boys really needed a father figure. _

Speaking of the boy, well man technically by age but she would always see him as a boy, she hadn’t seen him in days. After the proclamation of Bella’s ascension to the throne the half-blood one took him into her tower and he works for her now. Something about needed experienced blacksmiths and not trusting the already established ones. 

_Annnnnd there goes Diana rushing the end of the training session._ The girl was excited to go see her man. Seems at some point in the past year she took the initiative and made her intentions known to Hervul. _Good too. I’ve seen his type before, she would have been on her deathbed waiting for him to confess to her. Doubt he even understood that he liked her._ She makes a habit of after training sessions taking lunch to him and Phaele in her workshop. _I reckon the only reason she’s been allowed to do this is because she brings Phaele lunch as well._ _And off she goes to go change._ She takes another sip watching the girl sprint off to her quarters to change into a nice sundress Vevrani picked out for her. A few months ago the woman found out that the girl had never worn a skirt or dress before and decided to rectify that. At first she was against it, stating that it would be a liability if she were to ever need to fight, but when the older woman pointed out that maybe a certain boy would think she looked pretty in a dress she caved. And it seems to have worked since the girl owns 6 more dresses and always decides to wear one when she delivers lunch. _Lucky girl. I remember what it was like to be young and in love. Before the kids,before the murders. Just….. In love with some dumb guy. Which then led to the kids. Hope she doesn’t rush into kids too soon. She’s barely 21. Speaking of barley 20, there goes Stacy with the kids._

The young woman was the go to doctor for the town and even for some of the soldiers despite the fact that they have their own much more experienced healers.  _ Wouldn't be surprised if some of them gave themselves those scrapes and bumps just for an excuse to see her. _ Currently she was taking up the void left by Diana and playing with the children. Even though she was technically “on the job” it didn't really matter since she used magic to heal. If someone needed her they could find her and if someone really needed her she’d come running when they called.  _ I wonder if there is anything between her and Phaele. _ Lately the girl had many appointments with the high advisor. She claims that it was for her exhaustion and to heal the consequences of her normal overwork but considering how it seems she spent the last 20+ years overworking herself and refusing to get help despite the insistence of Neokan there must be something more. It would also put into context why the woman was a little more prickly towards people who have shown to be a little too friendly with the girl. Much like she does with people who approach Bella but on a smaller scale.

Seeing her eldest and the dwarf approaching her shaded retreat she downed the last bit of her tea and got ready for a workout. She would never approve of her son learning her trade but if he was gonna do it she was gonna teach him the right way. And the right way requires visual examples. 


End file.
